Every Expression of Happiness

The Royal Bedchamber was in shambles. Relatively speaking, anyway.

Princess Celestia, Diarch of Equestria, Scion of the Sun, Duchess of Canterlot, etc. generally kept her room neat and Spartan, so even a few overturned bottles of Western Wormwood and a mussed blanket made it look rather out of sorts. Add to that the casual sprawl of herself and her sister, Princess Luna, Diarch of Equestria, Lady of the Moon, etc. across said bed, and a few drops of green liquor on the floor beside it, and the picture was indeed quite un-Princess-like.

“I think,” said Celestia slowly, blinking as she paused to recall whatever it was that had crossed her mind a moment ago.

“Dost thou?” replied Luna seriously, her eyes unfocused and a pink glow that matched her sister’s lighting her cheeks.

Celestia turned and grinned at Luna. “I do, actually,” she said brightly, but then her face fell. “Perhaps a little too much sometimes.”

Luna shuffled carefully across the bed to drape a wing over her sister, mindful of the room’s tendency to spin. “Oh, now, Celly... be not sad,” she said soulfully, nuzzling her flowing multicolored mane. “We are here, and thou needst not think overmuch. This is a time for relaxation together!”

The smile returned to Celestia’s face as she turned to stroke Luna’s cheek with her nose. “Indeed, Lulu. Thank you.” She hiccupped delicately, then giggled at herself, bringing one hoof up to cover her mouth.

“Thou art still drunk!” Luna laughed, bumping Celestia with her shoulder. “And thy cheeks are red as roses!”

Celestia’s head dropped to stare intently at the floor, her cheeks flushing a bit further. “Well, there is a reason for that,” she said quietly through a half-hidden smile.

One eyebrow quirking up, Luna smiled knowingly. “Oh so! Pray tell us, then! We are most intrigued!”

“Well, sister,” said Celestia quietly, “it’s something... very private. I’ve thought it for a long time, but have never spoken it aloud.”

“A new secret?” Luna said excitedly, the wing she had draped over Celestia stroking her unconsciously. “We would love to hear it!”

Lifting her gaze to look into Luna’s light blue eyes, Celestia hesitated, her courage almost faltering, bolstered though it was by how much they had been drinking. Finally she blurted out, “Your... your moon is beautiful!”

Luna looked out to the night sky where the gibbous waxing moon shone, the one stray cloud occluding part of it making it even more striking. Pleased but perplexed, she fell back on formality. “We are grateful you enjoy it, sister,” she said as she turned her head to look quizzically at Celestia.

“No no, you silly... “ Celestia leaned closer, her breath warm on Luna’s cheek as she lowered her voice to whisper in her ear. “That one!” She gestured with eyes and horn to the cloud-backed moon on Luna’s flank, then spread one wing out to slide the tips of her flights up her sister’s rear leg.

Luna reared back in surprise, her cheeks flushing brightly enough to be clearly visible even through her dark coat. “But, Celly...”

Leaning further in, Celestia silenced her by pressing her lips against Luna’s, parting them gently to dart her tongue out in invitation. When Luna did not respond in kind she opened her eyes and broke the kiss.

“...Lulu?” she said uncertainly, a touch of hurt showing in her eyes.

Luna searched Celestia’s face for signs this was a jest of some sort; it wouldn’t be the first time her sister had pulled some elaborate prank on her. Even through the haze of alcohol - and the sudden warmth that had shot through her when Celestia kissed her, which she was struggling to hide - she saw only genuine feeling.

“Celestia,” she said quietly, “would that not be considered a breaking of one of the more stringent societal taboos of this age - or nearly any in our history?”

With a derisive snort Celestia brought her head up to give Luna a look of challenge. “The incest taboo is born of concerns about inbreeding, learned through observation of livestock,” she said disdainfully.

“We are not animals,” she continued more gently, “and we most certainly cannot breed.”

All anger left Celestia’s voice and features, and she dropped her head slightly to look at Luna through lowered lashes. “Nopony will ever know, if that is your wish,” she stated with sultry confidence, “and since there is no risk to our blood, our magic, or anything that matters to us or to others, why not indulge in what we both so clearly desire?”

Ignoring the protest Luna seemed about to raise, Celestia lifted her head to look straight into her eyes. “Just tell me that you have never harbored such fantasies yourself,” she whispered heatedly, “and I shall never bring it up again.”

This time Luna dropped her gaze to stare at the suddenly fascinating pattern of the inlaid marble floor. “We... are too honest to say that,” she said so quietly that Celestia had to strain her ears forward to catch it. “But we never imagined thou wouldst see us that way, or risk thy reputation, or even position, to do aught about it.”

A tear ran down Luna’s face as she continued. “And besides, after what we did to you so long ago, we thought...”

“Oh, Lulu!” Celestia cried, shuffling quickly across the bed to wrap her forehooves and one wing around her. “Do you know how hard it was for me to punish you, even when you were the Nightmare? How much I longed for you over those thousand years?” Tears flowed down her cheeks as she started kissing Luna’s face between her words. “I missed you. I lived in regret. I looked up at you, every night, and oh how I dreamed.”

Her kisses ended on Luna’s lips, and this time her sister responded. Slowly, carefully, she let herself open to Celestia’s warmth and love, her wings rustling on her back.

“Oh my sweet sister,” Celestia breathed onto Luna’s cheek as the kiss broke, “I have wanted you so much. Please... please let us move beyond our past, and into what we could become... together.” Her unwavering gaze held Luna, her eyes full of hope and a vulnerability that few ever saw.

Her reserve crumbling, Luna held herself back by the thinnest of threads. “Celly... art thou sure this is not just the absinthe talking? Western Wormwood has a certain... reputation for making fillies... frisky,” she said with a nervous grin. “What is it we have heard said? Ah yes: absinthe makes the tart grow fonder?”

Celestia pretended shock, though she could not keep from chuckling. ”Didst thou just call us a tart?” she asked in a playful imitation of Luna’s archaic speech. As her sister sputtered, caught between protest and laughter, she sighed and shook her head firmly.

“Never mind, it was but a jest. But Luna… I am not a filly - not for centuries, now! - and while I am certain that these bottles of lovely green liquid we’ve swallowed have helped me past my fear, this is something I’ve wanted to say for a very long time.” She reached out to curl a forehoof around one of Luna’s, smiling as she felt an answering grip.

“I love you, Lulu. I always have, and after all this time I think I can confidently say I always will.” Her pale cheeks suffused with red as she spoke, and she kept her eyes steady on Luna’s with some effort as she added, “I would simply like to love you... even more.”

A thin beam of moonlight sneaked its way between the curtains to illuminate their clasped hooves. Luna glanced down at them, her wings spreading further as she met Celestia’s gaze.

“Yes,” came her exultant whisper. “Oh, yes, please!”

Celestia silenced her once more with her eager mouth, and for a long time they exchanged no more words as they fell back out of the moonbeam to twine limbs, wings, and hearts through the rest of the night.